President Obama Plans To Extend Overtime For Nearly 5 Million Workers

A bankroll, that is. In a proposal that could cover nearly 5 million workers, the president said Monday that he wants to require overtime pay for employees who make up to $50,400 a year, reports The Washington Post.

The changes would go into effect next year and would replace current rules that require overtime pay for salaried workers making less than $23,660 a year, the report says.

“Right now too many Americans are working long days for less pay than they deserve,” Obama wrote in a Huffington Post op-ed announcing the proposal. “That’s partly because we’ve failed to update overtime regulations for years.”

The overtime exemption was initially intended for white-collar workers, Obama wrote. Under the current rules, salaried employees — even those with few supervisory duties — can be declared managers and denied overtime if they earn more than the $23,660-a-year threshold.

The new rules will peg the threshold for paying overtime wages to the 40th percentile of income going forward, according to the Associated Press.

The proposed changes, aimed at shrinking the growing income gap between the wealthiest Americans and the middle class, will be open for public comment and will not be finalized until next year, notes the report.